DCMU Episode 4: The Enemy Within Part I
by FireBuff51
Summary: DC-Marvel Unlimited: a shared universe where the heroes of Marvel and DC have always coexisted. Lex Luthor hires everyone's favorite 'Merc With A Mouth' to lure Superman into a trap that has unforseen consequences that threaten to forever alter the Man of Steel as we know him.


**DCMU:**_DC-Marvel Unlimited. _A shared universe in which the characters of both DC and Marvel have always coexisted. Featuring new adventures and a few old ones, re-imagined...

**Episode 4**

"_**The Enemy Within"**_

**Part 1**

Metropolis.

The morning clouds had parted, bathing the bustling city in golden sunshine. The streets began to fill with people heading out to start their day.

Somewhere down below, among the canyons of skyscrapers and office buildings, sirens screamed.

"Damn it! Step on it! The cops are closin' in!" Thug #1 spat as Thug #2 drove.

"Shut your trap! I'm doin' my best!" Thug #2 snapped as he jerked the steering wheel.

Thugs #3 and #4 were leaning out of the back windows firing machine guns at the phalanx of screaming police cars behind them. Like all good first time bank robbers, they wore black ski masks.

A mid-morning bank robbery was bold. Trying to outrun the cops in downtown Metropolis in mid-morning traffic was near suicidal.

An 18 wheeler pulled into the next intersection, forcing Thug #2 to jerk the steering wheel hard to the right, sending the black sedan tearing down the next block onto the busy boulevard.

Mrs. Denton led her class of third graders down the sidewalk. With the Metropolis Natural History museum only two blocks from the school, she thought it would be a great idea for the kids to take a walking field trip.

"Class, we're almost to the stop light." she called as they approached the street corner. "Everyone hold the hand of the person next to you...I don't care if boys are gross, do it, please. "

"I'm not goin' back to jail! I'm not!" Thug #1 shouted.

"My God, why won't you shut up?!" Thug #2 growled. "I'll lose the cops, don't worry!"

As they sped into the next intersection, a city bus made a sudden turn in front of them. Thug #2 swerved to avoid a collision and careened straight towards the sidewalk and the class of third graders.

The children screamed. Mrs. Denton grabbed the child nearest to her and attempted to shield her from the imminent collision.

A red and blue blur whooshed past them. The sedan slammed into something and whatever it was smashed in the front of half of the car, stopping it instantly.

The criminals sat, momentarily stunned. They stared at each other.

"What...what the hell...?" Thug #3 stammered.

The roof of the sedan suddenly peeled back and was ripped from the car, exposing the four robbers to the early afternoon sunlight.

They looked up to see..._Him_. The imposing, square jawed figure in blue with a red cape. Metropolis' favorite son and hero.

"Superman!" shouted Thug #4 who just that morning had been admonished by Thug #1 for always stating the obvious.

"Waste 'im!" Thug #1 shouted.

The four men unloaded their guns, firing a rapid hail of bullets at The Man of Steel, who maintained his solid footing on the hood of the car as the bullets ricocheted off of his chest.

He smirked and stared them down with his piercing blue eyes.

"Are you gentlemen done yet?"

The men looked at each other as the police cars arrived, then threw their guns from the car and raised their hands.

"Wise choice."

"Thanks for the assist, Supes." one of the police officers called as they surrounded the car.

"Anytime, Officer." Superman replied as he levitated above the car. He turned and flew across the intersection where he landed in front of the schoolkids.

"Everybody okay over here?" he asked.

The children swarmed him, hugging his legs and waist.

"Thank you. Thank you, so much." Mrs. Denton cried.

"Glad I could help." he said, resting a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you." she said again, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

"Okay, kids. I have to go now." said Superman. "Have fun on your field trip. Stay in school."

He waved to the class as he lifted off the ground and soared across the sky.

XXXXXX

The Lexcorp tower was an imposing fixture of the Metropolis skyline. Equally imposing, if not more so, was Lex Luthor himself.

Tall, with broad shoulders and that famous bald head, wearing a thousand dollar suit, he stood before the large window beside his desk that afforded him a view of the city.

He was deep in thought when a voice caught him off guard.

"Mr. Clean! What's up? Love your commercials! Never thought I'd actually get to meet you in person..."

"You fool!" Luthor snapped as he turned. "Startling me like that is not conducive to longevity. If I weren't expecting you..."

"Yeah, yeah." said the stranger sitting on a couch in a darkened corner of the room. "So we're on your dime here, Cue Ball. Tell me all about your evil plans or don't. Long as I get paid, I'm good."

"Evil is in the eye of the beholder." said Luthor, taking a seat at his desk. "I believe it was Nietzsche who once said..."

"Oh my Gawd! You are soooo boring! Just tell me what you want me to do already! I have a short attention span! I can't...you hungry? Damn, I could go for some enchiladas. Or maybe some chimicha-"

Luthor sighed.

"Are you familiar with black Kryptonite?"

"No. Is he a rapper?"

"Black Kryptonite," Luthor continued. "Is the result of super-heating Kryptonite until it is blackened. This changes the properties of the element. Consequently, it changes the way that it affects Kryptonian DNA. There has never been a documented case of Superman being exposed to it, but in theory, according to several of my chemists, it should result in some sort of mental trauma, most likely a split-personality."

"So you wanna make Supes go crazy and you need me to make it happen?" replied the man sitting in the corner.

"More or less. A mentally unstable Superman is a volatile Superman and we can't have that, can we? Eventually, SHIELD or his comrades in the Justice League or even the Avengers will be forced to neutralize him. Then he'll be one less obstacle impeding me from all of the things that I want to accomplish."

"And...what if I refuse?"

"You would seriously refuse me? Refuse the handsome sum that I've offered you?"

The mercenary known as Deadpool leaned out of the shadows, the sunlight slicing across his red and black mask.

"Hah! Nah, just kidding. I just always wanted to say something like that.

You want me to turn Superman into Gary Busey, I'm your man!"

XXXXXX

Clark Kent made his way into the newsroom of the Daily Planet, Metropolis' premier newspaper.

"Did you get extra horseradish on my roast beef, Mr. Kent?" asked a red haired, freckle faced kid as he walked by carrying a stack of files.

"What's that, Jimmy?" Clark asked, distracted.

"You said you were picking up lunch. Roast beef on white, extra horseradish, pickle on the side? That's mine."

"Gosh, I...I'm sorry, Jimmy." Clark pushed the glasses up on the bridge of his nose. "Something...came up. I can go back out..."

"Aw, that's okay, Mr. Kent." Jimmy Olsen said as he placed the files on a nearby desk. "I'll go get it. Been itchin' to get outta the office, anyway. Slow news day."

"Smallville, where ya been?" called Lois Lane, the beautiful, dark haired reporter as she stalked past Clark and sat down at her desk.

"I uh...stepped out to pick up lunch, and-"

"Yeah, you didn't get me a salad again, did you, Clark?" she asked, typing away at her computer. "I'm famished. I could really go for a burger."

"Gee, I uh meant to..." Clark scratched the back of his head.

"That's great. Do you know if my source on the city hall story called back yet?"

"Maybe you should check your voicemail?" Clark offered, sitting down at his desk.

"Ah. Good one, Lois." Lois sighed in annoyance as she dialed her phone.

Clark looked at her and sighed. She was so pretty. He loved her attitude. He loved how focused she could be about things. Face it, he loved _her_.

So why not tell her? What's the worst that could happen? He knew very well what could happen. One of his enemies would find out that Superman was in love with Lois Lane and then use her to get to him. For now, Clark was content to admire her from afar. He wondered if there were any other superheroes in the same boat as him.

"Kent!" Perry White, the Planet's Editor-in-Chief barked as he stepped from his office. "You finished that write up on the death of the Green Goblin yet?"

"Check your e-mail, Chief." Clark replied.

"Whattaya think, Clark?" asked Lois, still typing away furiously. "You think the Goblin really killed himself or do you think Batman, ya know...skriiiiiik!?"

"Killed him?" asked Clark. "No. I know Batma...I mean, I _kind of _know how Batman works and that's not what he does. He's not a killer."

"Maybe, but I'm still on the fence about Batman. Guy just creeps me out. That black suit and the ears. Now Spider-Man, on the other hand..."

Suddenly, Clark heard the low rumble of an explosion, followed by another. Maybe two miles away, he figured.

He quickly stood.

"Um, I think I'll head back out to get those sandwiches." he said.

"Okay." Lois replied, deep in thought as she studied her computer screen. "Hey, get me burger, will ya? Medium rare. No, wait...medium _well_. Now I can't decide. How do you take your burgers, Clark? Clark?"

She looked up to see that he had disappeared.

Clark quickly made his way down the hall and stepped into an empty elevator.

As soon as the double doors slid closed, he pulled open his dress shirt to reveal the large red 'S' on his chest.

XXXXXX

"Bang!" Deadpool called out as he tossed a grenade over his shoulder. It exploded several feet away in the middle of the street.

People abandoned their cars and ran in the opposite direction. Smoke emanated from a small crater in the intersection where he had tossed another grenade, moments earlier.

"Where's everybody going?" he called. "Come on! I'm just randomly discharging ordinance in an urban environment. Nothin' to see here! Come on back!"

"Deadpool."

The mercenary turned to see Superman land in the street before him.

"Took you long enough!" Deadpool said, exasperated.

Superman folded his arms and glared at him.

"What's the meaning of this?"

"Uh...to draw you out in the open. Hello!? Dude, you should really have like, a MySpace page or something. It'd be a lot easier to contact you and I wouldn't have had to blow up Main Street to get your attention. I'm not complaining, though. I love making things go boom and all..."

"You have my attention now. Drop the weapons. I'm taking you in."

Deadpool doubled over, laughing.

"Oh man! You say that so earnestly! I love it! No, Supes. You're not taking me in. I do have a gift for you, though..."

Superman quickly used his X-Ray vision to scan Deadpool's body. Aside from the usual ungodly amount of weapons that the mercenary managed to pack onto his person, he didn't appear to be carrying anything unusual.

Deadpool slung a high powered rifle that resembled a small cannon off of his shoulder.

"A gun?" said Superman as he took a fighting stance. "You know who I am, right? It's going to take more than that to stop me."

"We'll seeeee..." Deadpool sang as he raised the weapon.

Superman charged towards him. Deadpool fired the weapon. In a millisecond, Superman deflected the round with a swipe of his left hand. He landed in front of Deadpool and in one swift motion, yanked the rifle from his hand and lifted him into the air by his throat.

"Well, that...didn't go...like I thought it would..." Deadpool gasped, clutching Superman's arm as he kicked helplessly at the air.

"Let's go see the nice agents at SHIELD." said Superman. "I know you've been on their wanted list for some time and...I..."

Superman paused and looked down at his left hand. It was bleeding.

He suddenly felt weak and dropped Deadpool who laughed as he landed on his rear.

"It worked!"

"What did you do, Wilson?" Superman demanded as he stared at his trembling hand. "What kind of bullet was that?"

"Ohhh...you know what kind of bullet it was." Deadpool replied as he dusted himself off.

Superman dropped to his knees.

"Krypt..."

"Krrrrrrryptoniiiiiite!" Deadpool crooned in his best Sinatra. "Gotta love the stuff!"

Superman struggled to stand, but he was too weak. He fell down on one elbow.

Deadpool stalked forward and kicked him in the jaw, knocking the Man of Steel onto his back.

Superman coughed up blood as he stared at the sky. Deadpool retrieved his rifle and cocked it.

"Well, I have to say...now I know how Cuba Gooding felt when he won the Oscar. I did it. I really did it! I am gonna kill Superman. I'm...I'm getting all misty eyed just thinking about it. Why, if the boys back at Weapon X could see me now..."

He placed one foot on Superman's chest, then lowered the rifle and pointed it square between his eyes.

Unbeknownst to Deadpool, the wound on Superman's hand suddenly sealed itself. The blood dribbling from his mouth disappeared.

Deadpool squinted as he slipped his finger around the trigger.

"This is the easiest money I've ever made."

Superman smiled menacingly up at him. Deadpool lowered the gun.

"Wait...why are you..." she stammered. "And where's all the blood...wait..."

Superman punched Deadpool so hard that he flew twenty feet and hit a tree, splintering it.

"Son...of...a...bitch!" Deadpool groaned.

A jagged branch had pierced the back of his skull and exited through his right eye socket.

He yanked out the branch, then ripped off his red and black mask to reveal a horribly disfigured bald head and face that had been marred by countless healed injuries.

"Wait! Stop the fight! Gotta find my eye!" he called as he dropped to his knees and swept his hands through the grass. "AH! Here it is!"

He picked up the eye with nerve tendrils dangling from it. He blew on it, then shoved it back into it's socket.

He blinked several times.

"Yeah...okay...I'm good." he said as he stood. "Game on-"

He looked up to see a station wagon flying through the air straight towards him.

Deadpool tapped the teleportation device on his belt and disappeared as the car crashed back to earth.

He reappeared on top of a drugstore.

"What the hell, Supes?! I know I tried to blow off your head and all, but you threw a freaking car at me! That's like...waaayyy overkill, man!"

Superman glared up at him from the street.

"I will kill you. And I will enjoy it." he said coldly.

Deadpool held up his hands.

"Whoaaaa! Look, I know I'm just a mutant and all...but everybody knows that Superman doesn't kill. That's like...a _major_ thing of yours and..."

Deadpool slapped his forehead.

"That's right! The black Kryptonite! It's supposed to split your personality! Now, I get it! This should be fun to watch..."

Superman was poised to lift off and fly when he suddenly began to shake. He had never experienced anything like that before.

He had to leave. Whatever was about to happen would not be good and he was in the middle of downtown Metropolis. He didn't want to risk anyone getting hurt.

He launched himself into the sky and soared off towards the edge of the city.

"Hey! I wanna see the meltdown!" Deadpool shouted after him. "I brought popcorn..."

Superman flew out over farmland, as far away from the city as he could get before he landed on a two lane highway. He fell to his knees. He continued to shake until...suddenly there was a blinding flash.

When Superman opened his eyes he saw something entirely surreal.

He saw Clark Kent sitting across the highway from him, wearing a white dress shirt, black tie and slacks.

Kent adjusted his glasses and squinted at Superman.

"How...?"

Superman struggled to his feet. He shook his head.

"I...I don't..."

Superman suddenly felt as if his head had cleared. He felt as if a weight had been lifted. He was rid of him. He was rid of Clark Kent. He was rid of that cumbersome part of his psyche that always forced him to hold back. That part of him that wouldn't let him realize his full power.

Well, he was _almost_ rid of him.

Clark stood and ran a hand through his hair.

"I don't know where to start...first...I think we should..."

Superman flew at Clark and slammed him into the pavement.

"You are finished, Kent!" Superman roared as he slammed Clark's head into the ground.

Clark socked him in the jaw and leapt to his feet.

"It was the Kryptonite!" he shouted. "It was black Kryptonite! It separated my personality into two different beings!"

"I know that Kent, you idiot!" Superman snapped. "You damned boy scout! I've had it with you! You've stopped me for too long. I'm a god to these people! I could rule them! You held me back! That ends today!"

"No!" Clark shouted back. "This is my home! The people here, they need me! They need someone to protect them!"

"No! They're weak! Just like you!"

Superman ran at him and threw a roundhouse punch so quickly, he connected with Clark's jaw before Clark could even block his fist and his glasses went flying as he hit the ground. Superman pounced on him and repeatedly pounded on him with a berserk fury, landing blow after powerful blow.

Clark could barely fend off the assault. He was losing strength and was starting to black out.

"No..." he growled through clenched teeth. "NO!"

He mustered as much power as he could and kicked Superman in the gut, sending him flying off down the highway.

Clark came to his knees, coughing blood. He picked up his glasses and slipped them back on. He had never needed them, but he did it out of habit.

He struggled to his feet. The next thing that he saw was a fist, then everything went black.

Superman picked up the lifeless body of Clark Kent and with one herculean throw, sent him soaring off into the sky over the cornfields.

"Good riddance." he sneered.

He turned and stared at Metropolis off in the distance.

He smiled wickedly and flew off towards the city.

**End of Part 1**

All characters featured in this piece of fiction are the copyrighted property of their respective owners, creators and studios.


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